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Passage A Baiji One animal which is still alive, but has almost disappeared from the world, is the Chinese river dolphin or baiji. The baiji is a beautiful animal with a graceful body and long nose. It is bluegrey with a white underside, weighs between 100 and 160 kilogrames, and can grow up to eight feet long. It lives in the middle and lower parts of the Yangtze River. Most dolphins live in the sea so the baiji is very unusual. It is one of only five kinds of river dolphins in the world. In the past, the Yangtze River was home to many thousands of baiji. A book written during the Han Dynasty, 22 centuries ago, tells of the river being full of the beautiful creatures(生物). At that time, there were many stories about the baiji. One story said that the dolphin was really a beautiful princess who had drowned in the river. Another said it was a kind of horse that could gallop(急速先进) across water, carrying gods on its back. Sadly, the situation today is very different. Many millions of people live in the Yangtze River basin and the river is busy, noisy and polluted. The baiji is almost blind and moves around using sounds. With so many boats and people using the river, the animals cannot find their way around. They are unable to find food, or find each other. Year by year, the numbers of baiji in the river become fewer and fewer. A lot of work is being done to help the baiji. One section of the river has been made into a kind to nature park, where the baiji can be safe. Fisherman work together with scientists and tell them when they see a baiji, or if they find an injured one. Injured animals are taken to a research center and nursed back to health. However, in spite of these measures, scientists estimate(估计) that there may be fewer than 100 baiji still alive in the river. If things continue as they are, the lovely creature will disappear in the next 25 years.
Exercises: I. Match the headings with the correct paragraphs Paragraph 1 ( ) A. Describing the baiji Paragraph 2 ( ) B. The present situation of the baiji Paragraph 3 ( ) C. Introducing the baiji Paragraph 4 ( ) D. Trying to save the baiji Paragraph 5 ( ) E. Stories from the past II. Complete the following sentences, Circle the letters. 1. The baiji is a kind of ____________________. A. fish B. whale C. dolphin D. horse 2. During the Han Dynasty, three people could find ___________. A. no baiji B. a few baiji C. 100 baiji D. lots of baiji 3. The baiji cannot find its way around because ___________. A. it is almost blind B. it cannot see in the polluted water C. too many people live in the Yangtze River D. it relies(依赖，依靠) on sounds to find its way, and the river is now very noisy. 4. The baiji is being helped in several ways; for example __________. A. fisherman catch the baiji and then take them to the research center B. the river is now full of people helping the baiji C. one part of the river is now a nature park D. the whole river is now a nature park III. Complete the sentence with words from the passage. 1. Horses can walk, trot(快步走), canter(慢步小跑) and __________ 2. The teachers say we have all worked very hard. They ___________ that most of us will pass the exam easily. 3. The air in the city is so ___________ that many people are getting asthma(气喘) and other illness. 4. John was quite badly _____________ in a car accident, but he is almost better now. 5. The woman looked very _____________ in the beautiful silk and cheong sam
Passage B Condors (秃鹰) Are Coming Back! Not long ago, the future looked grim (黑暗的) for the California condor. Today, because of conservation(保育) efforts, the huge bird can be seen flying over its old territories(地盘) once again. Condors eat carrion(腐肉), usually the bodies of other small animals. They can spot their food from the air, or watch for other carrion-eating birds circling over a carcass(尸体). Ranchers(牧场主), fearing that the condors were preying(捕食) on their cattle, used to shoot them and poison carcasses they knew the condors would eat. These techniques worked too well, and for a while condors teetered(濒于) on the brink(边缘) of extinction. To help re-population the area with California condors, scientists and researchers are now breeding(繁育) them in captivity(囚禁) and then reintroducing them into the wild. It’s been working well, and in December 1996, the first California condors were released(释放) outside of Calinornia, into the Vermillion Cliffs of northwestern Arizona. They had been kept in a pen(围栏) on a 1,000-foot cliff(悬崖) in preparation for their freedon. From the moment they flew away, the condors have been watched carefully by a team of scientists. Five of the six birds released as part of the project survived on their own. The sixth condor was killed in fight with a golden eagle. The effort to save condors takes a lot of planning and hard work. The goal of the condor-recovery(恢复) program is to put two populations of California condors back in the wild, one in California and one in Arizona. Exercises: I. Choose the best answer according to the passage. 1. Why did condors teeter on the brink of extinction? A. Because the future looked grim for the condors. B. Because they didn’t have enough carrion or body of other small animals to eat. C. Because the condors preyed on the rancher’s cattle. D. Because ranchers used to shoot them and poison carcasses they know the condors would eat. 2. The condors in ______________ area had a dreadful future. A. the Vermillion Cliff B. Arizona C. California D. Dallas 3. What are scientists and researchers doing to change the situation? A. They are helping repopulate the area with California condors. B. They are breeding condors outside of California. C. They are taking the condors outside of California. D. They are keeping the condors in a pen on a 1,000-foot cliff in preparation for their freedom. 4. At last what had happened to the sixth condors? A. They had been watched carefully by a team of scientists. B. They flew away to the Cliff for their freedom. C. Five of&n
